Method and device for operating a motor vehicle traveling driverlessly within a parking facility

Abstract

A method for operating a motor vehicle driving driverlessly within a parking facility includes determining, for a predefined target trajectory to be traversed by the motor vehicle within the parking facility, that point in the target trajectory until which safe driverless driving of the motor vehicle is possible; and driverlessly driving the motor vehicle, based on the predefined target trajectory, out to the determined point.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method for operating a motor vehicle driving driverlessly within a parking facility, the method comprising:
 determining, by a processor and for a predefined target trajectory to be traversed by the motor vehicle within the parking facility, a point in the target trajectory until which safe driverless driving of the motor vehicle is possible; and 
 based on the determination of the point, the processor controlling the motor vehicle to drive driverlessly no further than the determined point, wherein:
 the determining is based on a sensing by the at least one surrounding-area sensor arrangement of at least one of the motor vehicle and the parking facility, so that the determined point is restricted to within the sensing range of at least one surrounding-area sensor arrangement, 
 the at least one surrounding-area sensor arrangement includes a plurality of surrounding-area sensors, 
 each of the surrounding-area sensors includes a respective sensor range directed away from a front of the motor vehicle and along the target trajectory, 
 a first one of the surrounding-area sensors including a first sensor range that is shorter than every other sensor range of every other one of the surrounding-area sensors and represents a shortest of the sensor ranges of the surrounding-area sensors, and 
 the shortest of the sensor ranges is selected such that the determined point is disposed ahead of the front of the motor vehicle no farther than the shortest of the sensor ranges. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of surrounding-area sensors is a subset of all surrounding-area sensors of the at least one surrounding-area sensor arrangement. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising measuring an instantaneous speed of the motor vehicle, wherein the determining is based on the measured instantaneous speed. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising determining a predicted movement of a traffic participant located within the parking facility, wherein the determining of the point is based on the predicted movement. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising, subsequent to the determining of the point, identifying a new point in the target trajectory that is, with respect to a driving direction defined by the target trajectory, before the determined point and is separated from the determined point by a predefined safety buffer distance, wherein the location is at the new point. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the processor controlling the motor vehicle to halt at the location based (a) on the determined point and (b) on a further point in the target trajectory until which safe driverless driving of the motor vehicle is possible not being determined. 
     
     
       7. An apparatus for operating a motor vehicle driving driverlessly within a parking facility, the apparatus comprising:
 a processor interfacing with a guidance device of the motor vehicle, wherein the processor is configured to:
 determine, for a predefined target trajectory to be traversed by the motor vehicle within the parking facility, a point in the target trajectory until which safe driverless driving of the motor vehicle is possible; and 
 based on the determination of the point, control the guidance device to driverlessly drive the motor vehicle no further than the determined point, wherein:
 the determining is based on a sensing by the at least one surrounding-area sensor arrangement of at least one of the motor vehicle and the parking facility, so that the determined point is restricted to within the sensing range of at least one surrounding-area sensor arrangement, 
 the at least one surrounding-area sensor arrangement includes a plurality of surrounding-area sensors, 
 each of the surrounding-area sensors includes a respective sensor range directed away from a front of the motor vehicle and along the target trajectory, 
 a first one of the surrounding-area sensors including a first sensor range that is shorter than every other sensor range of every other one of the surrounding-area sensors and represents a shortest of the sensor ranges of the surrounding-area sensors, and 
 the shortest of the sensor ranges is selected such that the determined point is disposed ahead of the front of the motor vehicle no farther than the shortest of the sensor ranges. 
 
 
 
     
     
       8. The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein the determination is based on a sensing by the at least one surrounding-area sensor arrangement of at least one of the motor vehicle and the parking facility, so that the determined point is restricted to within the sensing range of the at least one surrounding-area sensor arrangement. 
     
     
       9. The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the at least one surrounding-area sensor arrangement includes a plurality of surrounding-area sensors having respective sensing ranges, the point being determined based on a shortest of the sensing ranges, so that the determined point is restricted to within the shortest sensing range. 
     
     
       10. The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the plurality of surrounding-area sensors is a subset of all surrounding-area sensors of the at least one surrounding-area sensor arrangement. 
     
     
       11. The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein the determination is based on a measured instantaneous speed of the motor vehicle. 
     
     
       12. The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein the processor is configured to determine a predicted movement of a traffic participant located within the parking facility, and the determination of the point is based on the predicted movement. 
     
     
       13. The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein the processor is configured to, subsequent to the determination of the point, identify a new point in the target trajectory that is, with respect to a driving direction defined by the target trajectory, before the determined point and is separated from the determined point by a predefined safety buffer distance, the location being the new point. 
     
     
       14. The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein the processor is configured to control the guidance device to halt the motor vehicle at the location based (a) on the determined point and (b) on a further point in the target trajectory until which safe driverless driving of the motor vehicle is possible not being determined. 
     
     
       15. A motor vehicle comprising an apparatus for operating the motor vehicle driving driverlessly within a parking facility, the apparatus comprising:
 a processor interfacing with a guidance device of the motor vehicle, wherein the processor is configured to:
 determine, for a predefined target trajectory to be traversed by the motor vehicle within the parking facility, a point in the target trajectory until which safe driverless driving of the motor vehicle is possible; and 
 based on the determination of the point, control the guidance device to driverlessly drive the motor vehicle no further than the determined point, wherein:
 the determining is based on a sensing by the at least one surrounding-area sensor arrangement of at least one of the motor vehicle and the parking facility, so that the determined point is restricted to within the sensing range of at least one surrounding-area sensor arrangement, 
 the at least one surrounding-area sensor arrangement includes a plurality of surrounding-area sensors, 
 each of the surrounding-area sensors includes a respective sensor range directed away from a front of the motor vehicle and along the target trajectory, 
 a first one of the surrounding-area sensors including a first sensor range that is shorter than every other sensor range of every other one of the surrounding-area sensors and represents a shortest of the sensor ranges of the surrounding-area sensors, and 
 the shortest of the sensor ranges is selected such that the determined point is disposed ahead of the front of the motor vehicle no farther than the shortest of the sensor ranges. 
 
 
 
     
     
       16. A non-transitory computer-readable medium on which are stored instructions that are executable by a processor and that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform a method for operating a motor vehicle driving driverlessly within a parking facility, the method comprising:
 determining, for a predefined target trajectory to be traversed by the motor vehicle within the parking facility, a point in the target trajectory until which safe driverless driving of the motor vehicle is possible; and 
 based on the determination of the point, controlling the motor vehicle to drive driverlessly no further than the determined point, wherein:
 the determining is based on a sensing by the at least one surrounding-area sensor arrangement of at least one of the motor vehicle and the parking facility, so that the determined point is restricted to within the sensing range of at least one surrounding-area sensor arrangement, 
 the at least one surrounding-area sensor arrangement includes a plurality of surrounding-area sensors, 
 each of the surrounding-area sensors includes a respective sensor range directed away from a front of the motor vehicle and along the target trajectory, 
 a first one of the surrounding-area sensors including a first sensor range that is shorter than every other sensor range of every other one of the surrounding-area sensors and represents a shortest of the sensor ranges of the surrounding-area sensors, and 
 the shortest of the sensor ranges is selected such that the determined point is disposed ahead of the front of the motor vehicle no farther than the shortest of the sensor ranges. 
 
 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the target trajectory is conveyed to the motor vehicle from the parking facility over a communication network, and 
 the processor for determining the determined point is disposed in the motor vehicle. 
 
     
     
       18. The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein:
 the target trajectory is conveyed to the motor vehicle from the parking facility over a communication network, and 
 the processor for determining the determined point is disposed in the motor vehicle. 
 
     
     
       19. The motor vehicle of  claim 15 , wherein:
 the target trajectory is conveyed to the motor vehicle from the parking facility over a communication network, and 
 the processor for determining the determined point is disposed in the motor vehicle. 
 
     
     
       20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 16 , wherein:
 the target trajectory is conveyed to the motor vehicle from the parking facility over a communication network, and 
 the processor for determining the determined point is disposed in the motor vehicle.